Tuesday, September 28, 2010

It's not so happy in our house unfortunately - Gorgeous Kid has been sick all weekend and is getting worse rather than better. Poor little guy had fever and chills overnight and hit a temp of 40. He's just miserable. He's been lying all over me and keeping me close. During his short bursts of sleep I've managed to slip into my craft room and make a few things ... I first saw these cute little tube boxes over at Keepstamping. The video tutorial can be found here at Creating Cards with Andrea.The lid and bottom are made with the Fancy Flower Punch - how cool is that! I used some of the scraps I had lying around from my previous post - they could make a matching set don't you think? I made my own little rose buds in my quirky way, but my friend Tania Gould has a fabulous tutorial here.

Okay back to nurse maid for me now :o) I'll be back with more later. Enjoy your day.

Friday, September 24, 2010

We have a gorgeous sketch challenge over at Just Add Ink this week. I was super organised with this card and had it done last weekend ... until I realised I didn't have any of the new black satin ribbon yet. I wanted to have that 'ruffled' bit a lovely big loose satin bow. Not to be, couldn't get my order here on time so the 'ruffle' it is. You don't want to know all the ribbon dramas I had believe me :o)

I layered Very Vanilla on Basic Black c/s and used some of my new Love Letter dsp ... mmmmmm, it's lovely. My Vintage Vogue flowers are clear embossed and quite glossy irl. I've used one of the new Antique Brads in the centre - you can just make it out in the pic - these brads are divine and I can see myself using them lots! Little piece of the new bling there too. The sentiment is from the level 3 hostess gift Occasional Quotes and you can just see my matching envelope at bottom - a la Mary Fish style.

The photo doesn't do this card justice, embossing is hard to photograph at the best of times, but this card has shadows all over - best I could do unfortunately - the weather didn't want to play nicely and I was in a hurry, not the best combo for a good outcome.

Head on over to JAI and check out the gorgeous inspiration from the other DT girls! It's worth the look :o)

School holidays start here in Canberra this weekend so we'll be getting into relaxed mode in our house, I love the non routine of holidays. Hoping I get some stamping done too so that I can start posting here a little more regularly again :o)

Friday, September 17, 2010

Recently Gorgeous Kid was involved in an extra curricular school activity called Tournament of the Minds. Basically Yr 4-6 children, in small teams were given a challenge and had to come up with a solution and various other components all by themselves with no adult involvement other than supervision. Two teachers kindly gave up their lunch breaks and spare time to keep an eye on things and ensure the kids were ready to present their findings on Challenge Day - incidentally this turned out to be Fathers Day! A pretty decent show of support from these teachers I thought :o)

Here are the two very simple thank you cards they were given. I tried out my new Simple Flower Embosslit - this little die does the embossing and cutting at the same time - too easy! The colours used are Daffodil Delight, Peach Parfait and Melon Mambo, Pink Pirouette layered on Crumb Cake c/s and the Little Leaves Sizzlet Die. I popped some Basic Pearls in the centre of each flower to finish it off. The sentiments are retired Chit Chat rub-ons, which messed up I realised when looking at the pics. I was able to fix using my white Gel pen.

I hope they know how much their time was appreciated by all the kids.

I've been playing with some new ink colours ... Cherry Cobler (my new fave), Crumb Cake and Early Espresso. I'll have to put all the bits together and show you what I come up with soon!

Thursday, September 16, 2010

I mentioned that I've been busy lately ... busy attending all sorts of appointments about my wrist and getting ready to return to work. Its been months since I told you how my wrist is going ... bottom line I guess is that it's not very good. I now know it will never be the same again. I'm still visiting the fracture clinic regularly, having x rays to check bone healing - one little bone didn't heal in the right spot so it sticks out the top of my hand now lol - they tell me it shouldn't cause any problems. The current and ongoing argument between the Dr's and me is the issue of re-breaking the bones. I say no way. I'm off for MRI scans next to see what the surrounding tissue can tell them. Let's hope there is an answer hidden away in there somewhere.

Every now and then the bones lock up momentarily - it's a strange feeling. Not pleasant either. That mainly happens when I'm driving, don't ask me why.

I go to physio every other day which sometimes hurts and other times relieves the aches and pains. I still cannot get full movement and am unable to turn taps on and off or hold a bar of soap and actually use it. The simplest of things - putting my hand out for change at the supermarket - are such a huge frustration. I have learnt how to use the salt and pepper grinders now though, amazing what little tricks you learn when you have to. There is no strength in the wrist at all anymore either so can't even use it to prop myself up to a sitting position for example. Notice I mention what I can't do, I should also tell you there are many things I can do of course - at the end of the day it's just a wrist!

There is a constant pain and while it's not excruciating it is annoying. I have some pretty serious pain killers for it but I don't like to take them regularly because they make me dopey. Takes me forever to use the keyboard these days, even hand writing is laborious and causes massive ache right up my forearm. Before this I had no appreciation for sufferers of RSI or Carpal Tunnel and similar afflictions. If you couldn't see it, then it couldn't have been that bad. OMG how naive and immature of me. I'm learning an awful lot through this experience.

Anyway this isn't a whinge, merely an update. I'm going back to work next week, initially on reduced hours and with modified duties and I'm looking forward to it. Everyone at work is being totally supportive and I have my very own rehab person to help with my little handicap. Not quite sure how I'm going to fit into my office clothes, as sitting around in trackies for six months has not done me any favours and I've gained some decent kilos. Ice cream has been such a great companion *blush*.

It's BFF's birthday soon so I've been doing a few little things to put in the post so it all gets to Brisbane on time. She was overseas this time last year so it's nice to have her in the Country and close by. She'll also be back down in Canberra on the weekend of my mum's second memorial. Those few days are difficult and it will be so lovely to have her company.

Other super exciting news is that at the end of this month I'm going to see Cold Chisel at a Wollongong pub - like the good old days. Tickets sold within a couple of hours and I'm lucky enough to have a friend chase around and make lots of phone calls to snag us tickets. Yayayayay for her! Can't wait - it's going to be a bit of a girlie road trip. What fun!

I should back up there a bit ... many of you probably don't know I've been a die hard Chisel/Jimmy Barnes fan for as long as I can remember. I try to see him wherever in the world I happen to be if he is playing in the vicinity. That equates to many many live performances over the years. I've met him in person on two occasions as well. Lucky me! It's kind of sad watching him grow older, although I guess we're all growing older right along with him and now it's great to see he's getting new generations of fans. Got to love that raspy voice of his!

As I mentioned earlier I've been quite busy lately, and that's just going to increase from next week ... more on that later.

My In Colours finally arrived and I had to have a really quick play, just because. I whipped a piece of Blushing Bride c/s through the Perfect Polka Dot embossing folder and layered on Choc Chip c/s. Once again I embossed the For You Flower, using clear powder this time and layered it with the Fancy Flower punch on top of some (now retired) Choc Chip grosgrain ribbon. The paper is from my stash, very pretty girlie colours :o)

I have quite a few other new goodies and just need to MAKE some time to play. I'm so good at finding a million other things to keep me busy too. Rather sad when you have to schedule craft/hobby time isn't it!

Gorgeous kid came home the other day announcing that his lovely teacher "got engaged last night". I have been quite distracted and busy lately so needed to keep a card super quick and simple, trying for elegance at the same time. As if on cue Nicky over at Keep on Creating posted this card and I totally CASE'd it :o)

I used Whisper White and Baja Breeze c/s, and white embossed the For You Flower stamp and layered using the matching Fancy Flower punch. The Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder makes light work of the background. I used one of the lovely sentiments from Occasional Quotes (level 3 hostess) on the inside. And that is the Baroque Motifs swirl you see on the matching envelope :o)

Saturday, September 11, 2010

A beautiful bright sunny day here in Canberra, it's got a real Spring feel about it. Makes me want to get out in my long neglected garden.

I have some cards that I made with the now retired Just Jawing set which I absolutely love for boys birthday cards. Gorgeous kid has a few upcoming parties so these were made with those in mind. I used Tangerine Tango, then Wild Wasabi followed by Real Red at bottom.

I tried to create a bit of a grunge look by making my own graffiti type background using the retired Linen stamp and one of the Trendy Trees images along with the Just Jawing stars. I tore the edge of my WW c/s all the way around and put the stamp pad direct to the c/s for a bit of a messy look. I think overall they look a little haphazard and will probably suit their 10 year old recipient's.

Friday, September 10, 2010

August and September seem to be really busy months for me. No particular reason either. I just find myself flat out and trying to achieve everything that needs to happen ... and feel I'm constantly trying to catch up despite how many ticks go against my 'to do' list. This is my fairly poor excuse for being a bad blogger lately :o)

Here is my card for our Just Add Ink challenge this week. I love the Petal Pizzazz set and thought it would be perfect for these pretty feminine colours. The little curly pieces of 'ribbon' are thin slivers of c/s scraps curled around my paper piercer, and to stiffen them up I've coated them very gently in Crystal Effects. That gorgeous sentiment is from the level 3 Hostess set Occasional Quotes.

My photography is worse than ever! I even made myself a light box! I think it needs a little refining and instead of photographing and submitting my dt card at the very last minute (late at night) I had better have a little play and practice with my new lighting system first.

Head on over to JAI and check out the other gorgeous dt creations. I'm sure something will inspire you to want to sit and play along with us :o)

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

I'm almost a day late in telling you, blame my horrid little head cold ... the new catalogue is here and I can now share it with you all ...

I'm sure you'll enjoy browsing - I am MOST excited about the new colours, particularly the new In Colours and can't wait to get my hands on them! There is a little bargain tucked away on page 117 - All the In Colour card stock and classic ink pads for $56.95, which is a saving of $16.95 if you were to purchase these items separately.

Happy browsing (direct link to catalogue on side bar at right). If you're anything like me you'll have a wish list longer than your arm. If there is anything you must HAVE send me an email!

It certainly has been an exciting day because in addition to our fabulous new Catalogue launch Stampin' Up! have announced a truly excellent promotion ... the Starter Kit has been revamped and is cheaper (now only $289 for over $400 value) and right now when you join and purchase your Starter Kit you will receive absolutely FREE a pack of the new In Colours (valued at $84). Total bargain! Wish they'd had a special like that when I joined :o)

Did you see those In Colour markers? That's another new and exciting thing happening this year ... a marker in every colour!

There are lots of different reasons to join Stampin' Up!, you can make it a very profitable business or like me, enjoy the benefits of Demonstrator discount to support your hobby! Feel free to contact me if you'd like to know more.

About Me

Welcome to my blog. Originally from Christchurch, New Zealand I came to Australia in 1990 and never moved home. After many years of travelling around, I now live in Canberra, the Nation's Capital.
I'm mum to one 17 year old Gorgeous Kid, twin 6 year olds - one of each known as Moo and Buster in our family, a four legged fluff ball called Lilli and a beautiful mini lop bunny called Humphrey.
I have been an Independent Stampin' Up! ® demonstrator since April 2008. I love all papercraft and I have set up this blog to share with you my love of stamping!
I gain a lot of inspiration reading other blogs and hope that I can offer some in return.
If you're visiting for the first time please leave a comment or join as a Follower so I know you've stopped by. x